Murdok
Murdok
مردك | |
|---|---|
Village | |
  Murdok Location within Syria | |
| Coordinates: 32°49′37″N 36°35′58″E / 32.82694°N 36.59944°E | |
| PAL | 300/249 |
| Country |  Syria |
| Governorate | Suwayda |
| District | Shahba |
| Subdistrict | Shahba |
| Population (2004 census)[1] | |
• Total | 2,891 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Murdok (Arabic: مردك) is a village situated in the Shahba District of Suwayda Governorate, in southern Syria. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Murdok had a population of 2,891 in the 2004 census.[1] Its inhabitants are predominantly Druze.[2]
History
[edit]Murdok is identified with the ancient village of Mardocha, which is attested in inscriptions found in the Roman-era sanctuary of Aumos, a local sun god, located a few kilometers away at Dayr al-Laban. An individual from Mardocha attested in these inscriptions is recorded as belonging to the tribe of the Audenoi, which is also attested in the nearby Borechath Sabaon.[3]
In 1596 the village appeared in the Ottoman tax registers named Mardak, part of the nahiya (Subdistrict) of Bani Nasiyya in the Hauran Sanjak. It had a Muslim population consisting of 23 households and 4 bachelors; a total of 27 taxable units. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 20% on agricultural products, including wheat (4500 a.), barley (900 a.), summer crops (600 a.), goats and beehives (250 a.), in addition to "occasional revenues" (150 a.); a total of 6,300 akçe.[4]
In 1838, Eli Smith noted that inhabitants of Murduk were predominantly Druse and Christians.[5]
Religious buildings
[edit]- Al-Mahdi (Druze Shrine)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 General Census of Population and Housing 2004 Deprecated link archived 2013-01-12 at archive.today. Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Al-Suwayda Governorate. (in Arabic)
- ↑ "Druze communities in the Middle East". British Druze Society. Archived from the original on September 11, 2011.
- ↑ Newson, Paul (2025). Imperialism and Appropriation in Rural Roman Syria. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-003-44140-3.
- ↑ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 218
- ↑ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Second appendix, B, p. 157
Bibliography
[edit]- Hütteroth, W.-D.; Abdulfattah, K. (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
Capital: Suwayda | |||||||||||||||
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